Chapter 816 Dinner At The Tavern

Calis, Lee Seng and Keng returned to the Merfolk village after dispersing of the supposed 'disease.' Calis led the twins to the Temple and excused himself after dumping them to work. The two worked diligently, bringing the mood up and chatting with the patients. It was almost night time before they were pulled to the side.

"You've worked hard all day without much food. You should eat and find some rest for tonight." The cleric told them.

"Don't worry." Keng smiled. "We're actually getting to leave. We spent all afternoon trying to search for the disease so it took some time out of what we originally thought we'd use with helping."

"Oh, it's quite alright! We're already grateful for all the time you've spent helping us on top of bringing the Cup back!" The cleric thanked them. Keng and Lee Seng said their goodbyes and stepped outside. They moved quite a ways before opening a portal back to Revit and stepping through into it.

The twins made their way back to the bustling tavern. People moved in and out of the tavern, seating themselves.

"Do you think we should contact the others?" Keng asked.

"Couldn't hurt. Tell them we're eating?" Lee Seng replied. Keng nodded and spaced out for a second before returning. "Good?" Keng nodded and the two found a seat and sat down.

"Ugh, I'm glad today's over. It felt like an eternity." Keng sighed.

"You didn't even do that much work." Lee Seng shook his head as he grabbed a menu and looked through it.

"Do you think that dragon's gonna tell the God King what happened?" Keng asked, curiously. "He is a royal dragon… with royal colors, so…"

"You said not to care so much about it." He tapped on the paper, finding exactly what he wanted and looked up at Keng. "Don't worry so much about it. It pushed us to A-rank and gave me some abilities to use cause it liked me." Keng shrugged and grabbed a menu and landed on the first thing he found interesting.

"Ready?" Keng asked.

"Yeah." Lee Seng nodded. Keng raised his hand and a waiter walked over. "

"Hiya, what can I get for you?" The waiter asked.

"I'll have the steak and potatoes." Keng replied, setting the menu off to the side.

"I'll have the monster burger deluxe set." Lee Seng told the waiter.

"Alright. Do you guys want water or some alcohol?" The waiter asked.

"Water's fine." Keng and Lee Seng replied in unison.

"Alright." The waiter scribbled the last bits and smiled at the two. "I'll get these in for ya."

"Thank you." Lee Seng nodded.

"What's our next move?" Keng asked Lee Seng. "You seemed so sure you knew what to do next." Lee Seng sighed and leaned back in his chair. The chatter of the tavern easily drowned his attention, allowing Lee Seng to space out for a second before pulling himself back to reality.

"I want to go back to Capitol City and make things right, but I think this is a conversation we have to have as a group." Lee Seng replied. More people stepped into the tavern. They looked around and moved to seats. Ritsuka and Liz stepped into view, glancing around. Lee Seng's eyes casually moved, registering the familiar faces. "What're they doing out of bed?"

Ritsuka's eyes locked with Lee Seng and he pointed over to Lee Seng. Liz looked over and waved at them. Lee Seng waved and Keng turned to see who he was waving to.

"Oh, why are they walkin' around?" Keng asked, standing. Evan, Manny, and Olivia popped into view following the two patients as they made their way over to Lee Seng and Keng.

"What're you guys doin' out of bed?" Lee Seng asked. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"The doctors gave us the okay to go out and eat." Manny told them. The group stood next to Lee Seng and the others, looking for seats.

"Oh, let's take that table over there." Olivia pointed. "Do you think we could pull some chairs over here and eat together?"  Olivia and the others looked around while Manny walked over to the bar.

"Mr. Tae'in, is it okay if we move tables around? The group wants to eat together with Lee Seng and Keng." Manny pointed behind him. Tae'in spun around and looked over.

"I'll let 'em know you're taking the big booth in the back with Lee Seng and Keng. They ordered right?" Manny looked over to Lee Seng who was nodding.

"Yeah, they did." Manny replied. Tae'in nodded, turning when someone called out for another beer.

"Alright! I'm comin'!" Tae'in shouted to the customer. He turned his attention back to Manny and nodded over to the booth in the back. "Go ahead. Raise your hand when you wanna order. I'll have Amanda come by for your order too."

"Thanks, Mr. Tae'in." Manny bowed before going back to his friends.

"I need four orders of special!" A young boy shouted. "Dad, I need four beers at 4C!"

"Roger!" Tae'in acknowledged the boy. "Could you get some waters out for the big booth in the back?"

"Okay!" The boy nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"They said we could move over there." Manny told the group. The group stood up and shuffled over to the back booth. They all sat together, giving Ritsuka and Liz the most room.

"You guys looked squished." Liz commented. "You can scoot over. I won't be too squished." She motioned at Olivia and Manny to move, patting the empty space next to them. They shuffled in their spots, making sure the two patients were comfortable.

"Evan said you two went to the Merfolk village today. How did that go?" Ritsuka asked, pulling Lee Seng closer to him. Lee Seng thought for a moment and shrugged.

"Okay, I guess?" Lee Seng replied.

"Okay? Was helpin' patients that boring?" Evan asked.

"Well…" Lee Seng scratched his cheek. Keng leaned forward and looked at the group. Tae'in's son wandered down to the booth and smiled.

"Drinks for ya." The boy handed the drinks to each person. "Are you guys ready to order? I know you two did." He pointed at Lee Seng and Keng.

"Hmm, what's the special for today?" Manny asked.

"Steak and mashed potatoes or Mom's fried sandwiches."

"Fried sandwiches? That sounds… dope." Ritsuka looked at the others. "I'll take that."

"Same." Evan raised his hand.

"Two?" The boy looked at the group.

"I'll take that, too." Olivia raised her hand.

"I'll have whatever Lee Seng got." Manny looked at Lee Seng.

"The monster burger set." Lee Seng told the boy.

"3 Special 2s, a monster burger set and for you, lady?" The boy looked at Liz.

"You have anything soupy?" Liz asked. The boy nodded.

"We have meat and potato soup or if you're looking for something a bit lighter and easier on your stomach, you could have the herb soup." The boy replied.

"I'll take the herb soup then." Liz chose.

"Alrighty, do you guys want any beer?" The boy asked.

"We're good. Thanks." Manny smiled. The boy bowed and jogged back to the kitchen.

"As I was saying," Keng drew the group back in. "It wasn't entirely boring… Lee Seng found the disease that's been plaguing them."

"Where? You've been looking for years with Calis, right? Y'all searched all over the place for the thing. Where did you find it?" Evan asked.

"In a cave… stuck on a dragon." Lee Seng replied.

"A Royal celestial dragon!" Keng said a bit too loud drawing attention. The group hushed Keng. "And Lee Seng got a wish from the dragon."

"What did you wish for?" Manny asked Lee Seng.

"Power." Lee Seng replied.

"Power? You didn't wish for everything on Earth to be over with?" Ritsuka asked.

"Trust me, I tried to." Lee Seng sighed. "He told his power couldn't expand across the Realms. It had to be on this Realm, so I asked for power."

"What did you get from that?" Olivia asked.

"Mmm, I pushed past B-rank and into A+ territory." Lee Seng replied. The group gasped. "And Keng went to A-rank. Plus! Plus, plus, plus!" The group was loud as Lee Seng roped them back to listen to him. "Plus the dragon liked me enough that he gave me some of his gifts."

"Like what?" Evan asked.

"Y'all notice anything different from Lee Seng?" Keng asked. They looked at Lee Seng, not really seeing anything out of the ordinary. The once red and blue eyes were mostly purple with hints of blue and red. Lee Seng looked at Ritsuka and widened his eyes for dramatic effect.

"Oh, you're pupils!" Ritsuka pointed. Lee Seng nodded as the others looked at each other in confusion.

"What about his pupils?"

Lee Seng stood up and leaned forward into the group, slowly giving them time to look at his eyes. One by one, they gasped and said the same thing as Ritsuka. Lee Seng smirked and sat back down.

"Do you know what that even does?" Manny asked.

"My sights sharper for sure." Lee Seng replied. "Other than that, I'm not sure what they do. I got another gift I can't show you here… It'd be fun to get a training sesh in. I could practice it with someone then."

"Tomorrow then!" Manny stood up. "We can take Ritsuka and Liz out to that battle park. We can train there!"

"But Elder Jyu'so said—" Evan began to say when Olivia hushed him.

"It'll be fun." Olivia cut Evan off. "Let's do it."